Method of treating solid cancers and/or metastases thereof, medicaments therefore, and a method of predicting the clinical outcome of treating solid cancers and/or metastases thereof

ABSTRACT

A new method can be used for treating colorectal cancer (CRC) and metastases thereof in subjects, and preferably also other solid cancers and metastases thereof in subjects. The method preferably depends on whether the patient shows certain specific proteins levels in one or more body fluids prior to or during treatment. The treatment involves the administration of at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor to a patient. A corresponding medicament is used in the new methods. A method can be used for predicting the outcome of a treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor based on the specific protein levels in one or more body fluids of the patient.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/511,993, filed on Mar. 16, 2017, which was the National Stage entry under § 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2015/001699, filed on Aug. 18, 2015, and which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/051,530, filed on Sep. 17, 2014. The content of each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING

The present application is accompanied by an ASCII text file as a computer readable form containing the sequence listing entitled, “000738USDIV01_SL_ST25.txt”, created on Jun. 17, 2022, with a file size of 38,275 bytes, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The instant invention provides for a new method of treating colorectal cancer (CRC) and metastases thereof in subjects, and preferably also of other solid cancers and metastases thereof in subjects, wherein said method preferably depends on whether the patient shows certain specific proteins levels in one or more body fluids prior to or during treatment, wherein said treatment comprises the administration of at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor to a patient, a medicament for use in said new methods, and a method of predicting the outcome of a treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor based on said specific protein levels in one or more body fluids of the patient.

More specifically, the instant invention provides for a new method of treating of solid cancers and/or metastases thereof, and especially of treating colorectal cancer (CRC) and/or metastases thereof, in subjects with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, preferably the pan αv integrin inhibitors abituzumab or intetumumab, wherein said subjects show certain specific protein levels in one or more body fluids prior to or during treatment.

Description of Related Art

Colorectal cancer (also known as colon cancer, rectal cancer or bowel cancer) is when cancer develops in the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body.

Treatments used for colorectal cancer may include some combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Cancers that are confined within the wall of the colon may be curable with surgery while cancer that has spread widely are usually not curable with management focusing on improving quality of life and symptoms. Five year survival rates in the United States are around 65%. This, however, depends on how advanced the cancer is, whether or not all the cancer can be removed with surgery, and the person's overall health. Globally, colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer making up about 10% of all cases. In 2012 it resulted in 1.4 million new cases and caused 694,000 deaths. It is more common in developed countries where more than 65% of occur. It is less common in women than men.

In both cancer of the colon and rectum, chemotherapy may be used in addition to surgery in certain cases. In rectal cancer, chemotherapy may be used in the neoadjuvant setting.

If cancer has entered the lymph nodes, adding the chemotherapy agents fluorouracil or capecitabine increases life expectancy. If the lymph nodes do not contain cancer, the benefits of chemotherapy are controversial. If the cancer is widely metastatic or unresectable, treatment is then palliative. Typically in this setting, a number of different chemotherapy medications may be used. Chemotherapy drugs for this condition may include capecitabine, fluorouracil, irinotecan, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and UFT. Another type of agent that is sometimes used are the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors.

While a combination of radiation and chemotherapy may be useful for rectal cancer, its use in colon cancer is not routine due to the sensitivity of the bowels to radiation. Just as for chemotherapy, radiotherapy can be used in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant setting for some stages of rectal cancer.

Bone metastases, or metastatic bone disease, is a class of cancer metastases that results from primary tumor invasion to bone. Bone is one of the most common locations for metastasis. [Coleman R E (October 2006). “Clinical features of metastatic bone disease and risk of skeletal morbidity”. Clin. Cancer Res. 12 (20 Pt 2): 6243s-9s.] While any type of cancer is capable of forming metastatic tumors within bone, the microenvironment of the marrow tends to favor particular types of cancer, including prostate, breast, and lung cancers. [Guise T (October 2010). “Examining the metastatic niche: targeting the microenvironment”. Semin. Oncol. 37 (Suppl 2): S2-14.] Particularly in prostate cancer, bone metastases tend to be the only site of metastasis. [Jimenez-Andrade J M, Mantyh W G, Bloom A P, Ferng A S, Geffre C P, Mantyh P W (June 2010). “Bone cancer pain”. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1198: 173-81.]

One of the most common solid tumors is lung cancer, also known as carcinoma of the lung or pulmonary carcinoma, is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung by process of metastasis into nearby tissue or other parts of the body, including the liver, brain and bone. Most cancers that start in the lung, known as primary lung cancers, are carcinomas that derive from epithelial cells. The main primary types are small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). As a class, NSCLCs and metastases thereof are relatively insensitive to chemotherapy, compared to small cell carcinoma. A wide variety of chemotherapies are used in metastatic NSCLC, unfortunately with little effect to date. Small-cell carcinoma or small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a type of highly malignant cancer that most commonly arises within the lung, although it can occasionally arise in other body sites, such as the cervix, prostate, and gastrointesinal tract. SCLC usually metastasizes widely very early on in the natural history of the tumor. Also in this case, the metastasis affects predominantely the bone, liver and brain.

The most common solid cancer in women is breast cancer. Breast cancer develops from breast tissue. It most commonly develops in cells from the lining of milk ducts and the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers developing from the ducts are known as ductal carcinomas, while those developing from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas. In addition, there are more than 18 other sub-types of breast cancer. The diagnosis of breast cancer is regularily confirmed by taking a biopsy of the concerning lump. Once the diagnosis is made, further tests are done to determine if the cancer has spread beyond the breast and which treatments it may respond to. If the cancer has spread beyond the breast, the breast cancer presents as metastatic disease. The symptoms caused by metastatic breast cancer will depend on the location of metastasis. Common sites of metastasis include bone, liver, lung and brain.

The metastatic process is a multistep event and represents the most dreadful aspect of cancer. At the moment of diagnosis, cancers are frequently far advanced in their natural history, and the presence of metastases is a common event. In fact, approximately 30% of patients have detectable metastases at the moment of clinical diagnosis and a further 30% of patients have occult metastases. Metastases can be disseminated and they can infest different organs at the same time, or localize to a specific organ. In the case of localized disease, surgery is the treatment of choice; however recurrence and prognosis depend on many criteria such as: resectability, patient's clinical situation, and number of metastases.

After resection, recurrence is common, suggesting that micrometastatic foci are present at the moment of diagnosis. Systemic chemotherapy is an ideal setting but only few patients are cured by it, and in the majority systemic chemotherapy fails. Many physiological barriers and pharmacokinetic parameters contribute to decrease its efficacy.

Liver, lungs and lymph nodes are filtration organs and therefore inclined to metastasization. The poor chemosensitivity of metastases, peculiarly those of colorectal origin has forced many researchers to use methods for increasing the time and the concentration of drugs. The need for decreasing or limiting the side effects for this important and delicate organ led to the development of the technique of liver isolation for perfusion of antineoplastic agents. (K. R. Aigner, Isolated liver perfusion. In: Morris D L, McArdle C S, Onik G M, eds, Hepatic Metastases. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 1996. 101-107). Since 1981, modifications and technical improvements have been continuously introduced. Liver metastases may be of different origin and their chemosensitivity may vary according to the histological type and their response in presence of heat.

There still exists a growing need in the art in order to develop new therapeutic strategies for treating cancer, especially metastases, systemically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention therefore was to develop such a new strategy. It should be applicable to systemic treatment, and it should lower the dose and/or increase the efficiency of the cancer therapeutical agents to be applied. A further object was to normalize tumor vasculature to increase delivery of systemic therapeutics of tumor, i.e. to reset the tumor vasculature to the functionality of the vasculature of non-tumor tissue.

Thus, it is a preferred objective of the instant invention to provide a more effective, better tolerated treatment for humans, especially human cancer patients suffering from solid cancers and/or metastases thereof, preferably colorectal cancer (CRC) and/or metastases thereof and especially metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), preferably independent from the location of the metastases, thus preferably leading to enhanced overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), quality of life (QOL) and/or increased median survival.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein CCL23.1, of overall survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 2 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of overall survival on patients with high expression of CCL23.1 and on patients with low expression of CCL23.1.

FIG. 3 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein IGHD_IGK.IGL., of overall survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 4 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of overall survival on patients with high expression of IGHD_IGK_IGL. and on patients with low expression of IGHD_IGK.IGL.

FIG. 5 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein TPO, of overall survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 6 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of overall survival on patients with high expression of TPO and on patients with low expression of TPO.

FIG. 7 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein IL17A, of overall survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 8 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of overall survival on patients with high expression of IL17A and on patients with low expression of IL17A.

FIG. 9 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein TGM3, of overall survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 10 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of overall survival on patients with high expression of TGM3 and on patients with low expression of TGM3.

FIG. 11 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein TK1, of overall survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 12 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of overall survival on patients with high expression of TK1 and on patients with low expression of TK1.

FIG. 13 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein Human.virus.2, of overall survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 14 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of overall survival on patients with high expression of Human.virus.2 and on patients with low expression of Human.virus.2.

FIG. 15 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein PGF, of progression free survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 16 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of progress free survival on patients with high expression of PGF and on patients with low expression of PGF.

FIG. 17 shows a graph of the 50%-quantile stratification, based on protein STX1A, of overall survival on EMD525797-treated patients and on SOC-treated patients.

FIG. 18 shows a graph of the stratification by treatment of overall survival on patients with high expression of STX1A and on patients with low expression of STX1A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Prostate cancer is the most commonly occurring solid cancer aside skin cancer in the US, and is the second most common cause of male cancer deaths.

Prostate cancer is classified in four stages: Stage I prostate cancer is found in the prostate only and cannot be felt during a digital rectal exam nor is it visible by imaging. In stage II prostate cancer, the tumor has grown inside the prostate but has not extended beyond it, whereas in stage the cancer has spread outside the prostate, but to a minimal extent only. Often, prostate cancer in stage III will have spread only to nearby tissues, such as the seminal vesicles. Finally, in stage IV, the cancer has spread outside the prostate to other tissues, such as the lymph nodes, bones, liver, and/or lungs or brain.

The spectrum of prostate cancers that are progressing despite castrate levels of testosterone includes tumors that have shown varying degrees and durations of response to primary hormone treatment, and clinical manifestations that range from a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) alone, a rising PSA with osseous and/or soft-tissue spread, or a predominantly visceral disease pattern.

Currently approved treatment of prostrate cancer includes surgical castration, chemical castration, or a combination of surgical and chemical castration. Removal of the testes, the primary testosterone producing organ, reduces the levels of circulating androgens, to less than 5% of normal levels. This reduction in androgen levels inhibits prostate tumor growth. Although the anti-tumor effects of surgical castration are direct, the anti-tumor effects can be temporary. Surgical castration often leads to clonal selection of androgen-independent prostate tumor cells. This results in re-growth of the prostate tumor in a form that proliferates without testosterone or DHT Stimulation. Chemical castration (also called medical castration) is often substituted for surgical castration, as an initial treatment. Despite its high prevalence, treatment options for men having prostate cancer remain relatively limited and typically depend on the stage of the cancer.

Treatment options include surgical treatments such as radical prostatectomy, in which the prostate is completely removed and radiation, applied through an external beam that directs the dose to the prostate from outside the body or via low-dose radioactive seeds that are implanted within the prostate to kill cancer cells locally. Anti-androgen hormone therapy also is used in the treatment of prostate cancer, either alone or in conjunction with surgery or radiation. Hormone therapy typically aims at blocking the pituitary from producing hormones that stimulate testosterone production by use of castration or administration of hormone analogs and requires that patients have injections of these hormone analogs for protracted periods. Finally, chemotherapeutic approaches have been used to treat advanced prostate cancer, usually as a last resort when other approaches have failed. Since a couple of years, the combination of docetaxel and prednisone was established as the new standard of care for patients who have progressed on androgen deprivation.

None of the treatments described above are curative and prostate cancer being androgen dependent at first, often will progress despite surgical and hormonal-based therapies, and become resistant over time, leading to a cancer type which is called “hormone refractory cancer” or “castration resistant cancer” (CRPC).

Clinical disease manifestations of CRPC are commonly related to bone metastases and may include pain, pathologic fractures, and spinal cord compression, with local recurrences that may be associated with pelvic discomfort, renal dysfunction due to ureteral compression, bladder outlet obstruction, and sexual dysfunction. Further, while bone cancer is the predominant result of CRPC, patients may develop soft-tissue metastases (lymph node(s)) and visceral metastasis in liver, lung, brain, and other organs. Patients with CRPC are minimally responsive to chemotherapy and the majority of patients die due to progressive prostate cancer within 20 months of initiating treatment. Bisphosphonates are commonly used in patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer who have bone metastases.

It has been shown that prostate tumors remain dormant and clinically undetectable until they begin to secrete angiogenic factors and down-regulate the expression of angiogenic inhibitors. In general, it can be stated that angiogenesis is critical to the genesis of prostate tumors. Therefore, it was not completely surprising that anti-angiogenic agents may inhibit prostate cancer cell growth.

In prostate cancer, tumor cells express an abnormal integrin repertoire and are surrounded by a markedly aberrant extracellular matrix (ECM). These changes have profound consequences, given the ability of each integrin to regulate specific cell functions. Expression of β3 and β1 subunits activates specific signaling pathways and support distinct cancer cell functions. β3 is uniquely required in cancer cells for increasing cdc2 levels as well as cdc2 kinase activity. These effects are specific for β3 and are not observed for β6. Up-regulation of β3 and β6 integrin variants has been described. Zheng et al. (Cancer Research 1999; 59, 1655-1664) used human prostate cancer cells isolated from sixteen surgical specimens, to show that these cells express αvβ3, whereas normal prostate epithelial cells do not. Similarly, αvβ6 was found to be expressed in adenocarcinoma (Li et al.; Molecular and Cellular Biology 2007; 27, 4444).

The use of integrin inhibitors is likely to affect both cancer cell survival and angiogenesis since integrins are expressed by tumor cells as well as by endothelial cells. Although it is hard to discriminate between an effect on tumor growth and an effect on angiogenesis, a maximal response of these inhibitors can be predicted when the targeted integrin is expressed by both tumor and endothelial cells,

Bone is the most frequent metastatic site for prostate cancer. Bisanz et al. (Molecular Therapy 2005; 12, 634-643) illustrate a positive role for alpha-v integrins on prostate tumor survival in the bone. Analysis of human prostate cancer bone xenografts shows that intratumoral administration of liposome encapsulated human alpha-v siRNAs significantly inhibits the growth of PC3 tumors in bone and increases apoptosis of prostate tumor cells. Further studies (McCabe et al., Oncogene 2007; 26, 6238-6243) demonstrate that αvβ3 integrin activation on tumor cells is essential for the recognition of key bone specific matrix proteins. These data suggest that the αvβ3 integrin modulates prostate cancer growth in distant metastasis. Since integrins mediate the interactions between tumor cells and bone microenvironment and facilitate growth in bone, a potential application of the use of integrin inhibitors is to prevent prostate cancer bone lesions. These lesions are osteoblastic and/or osteolytic and are frequently detected in prostate cancer patients (over 80% of prostate cancer patients have established bone metastasis at autopsy).

A recent study has shown that the αvβ3 integrin promotes bone gain mediated by prostate cancer cells that metastasize to the bone and point to αvβ3 as a potential therapeutic target to block prostate cancer osteoblastic lesions. Immunohistochemical analysis has demonstrated the presence of αv integrin in a large proportion of human prostate cancer tissues samples. These and other results suggest that anti-integrin agents may have both direct and indirect antitumor activity. But there are only few clinical trials reporting that peptide or non-peptide integrin inhibitors are effective agents in prostate cancer therapy.

Therefore, there is also a need to provide a method of treatment of bone metastases, preferably bone metastases of breast cancer, lung cancer and/or prostate cancer. Moreover, there is a especially high need to provide a method for the treatment of prostate cancer bone metatases, especially castration-resistant prostate cancer bone metastases.

Therefore, there is a also a need to provide a method of treatment of bone metastases from metastatic androgen independent prostate cancer (mAIPCa) and/or bone metastases from metastatic androgen dependent prostate cancer (mADPCa).

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method for identifying solid cancer and/or metastases in a subject, preferably a human subject, that are susceptible to treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, preferably Abituzumab or Intetumumab, comprising determining said certain proteins levels in one or more body fluids, whereby a high level of one or more proteins selected from a first group of said specific proteins and/or a low level of one or more proteins from a second group of said specific proteins indicates the tumor is susceptible to said treatment.

Thus, preferred subject of the invention is a method of treating solid cancers and/or metastases thereof in a subject, wherein said subject is characterised by

a) high levels of one or more proteins in at least one body fluid of said subject, wherein said one or more proteins are selected from the group consisting of:

TPO (UniProt ID: P07202),

CCL23.1 (UniProt ID: P55773),

IGHD_IGK._IGL. (UniProt ID: P01880),

TK1 (UniProt ID: P04183),

IL17A (UniProt ID: Q16552),

STX1A (UniProt ID: Q16623), and

PGF (UniProt ID: P49763),

and/or

b) low levels of one protein in at last one body fluid of said subject, wherein said protein is;

TGM3 (UniProt ID: Q08188);

said method comprising administering to said subject at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor. Preferably, said at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor comprises, or is, Abituzumab and/or Intetumumab. More preferably, said at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor is Abituzumab and/or Intetumumab, especially preferably Abituzumab.

Preferred is said method, wherein the level of said protein in at least one body fluid of said subject is

a) classified as high, if the respective protein level in said blood plasma is at least 2% higher, more preferably at least 5% higher, even more preferably at least 10% higher and especially at least 25% higher than the median threshold determined for the respective protein,

and/or

b) classified as low, if the respective protein level in said blood plasma is at least 2% lower, more preferably at least 5% lower, even more preferably at least 10% lower and especially at least 25% lower than said median threshold for the respective protein.

Preferred is said method, wherein said threshold or median threshold for the respective protein is determined from the body fluid of a plurality of subjects being part of a diseased subject population suffering from the said solid cancer, preferably said colorectal cancer (CRC) and/or metastases thereof, and especially metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Body fluids are preferably the liquids originating from inside the bodies of living subjects, preferably living human subjects. They include fluids that are excreted or secreted from the body as well as body water that normally is not excreted or secreted.

The body fluids can preferably specified by type, such as intracellular fluids, extracellular fluids, intravascular fluids (e.g. whole blood, blood and blood plasma), interstitial fluids, lymphatic fluids (sometimes regarded as a subtype of interstitial fluids), and transcellular fluids.

Preferred body fluids are selected from the group consisting of whole blood (preferably also referred to as “blood”), blood serum (preferably also referred to as “serum”), blood plasma (preferably also referred to as “plasma”), exudate, lymph, mucus, peritoneal fluid, saliva, sputum, tears and urine. Especially preferred body fluids are selected from the group consisting of Preferred body fluids are selected from the group consisting of whole blood (preferably also referred to as “blood”), blood serum (preferably also referred to as “serum”), and blood plasma (preferably also referred to as “plasma”). Especially preferred is blood plasma (preferably also referred to as “plasma”). Alternatively preferred is blood serum (preferably also referred to as “serum”), and whole blood (preferably also referred to as “blood”).

The threshold for categorization of patients into “low level” or “high level” for each of said specific proteins is preferably determined by listing of all available levels for that respective specific protein in the respective body fluid, then determining the median from this listing of said specific protein level values in said body fluid, and taking this median value as the threshold.

This threshold is preferably also referred to herein as median threshold. Preferably, said threshold or median threshold is determined in the population of subjects suffering from the respective bone metastasis disease as described herein. More preferably, said threshold or median threshold for the respective specific protein is determined from the body fluid of a plurality of subjects being part of a diseased subject population suffering from the respective bone metastasis disease.

More preferably, said threshold or median threshold is determined in the population of subjects suffering from the respective solid cancer as described herein, especially in the population of subjects suffering from colorectal cancer (CRC) and/or metastases thereof. Even more preferably, said threshold or median threshold for the respective specific protein is determined from the body fluid of a plurality of subjects being part of a diseased subject population suffering from the respective bone respective solid cancer as described herein. Even more preferably, said threshold or median threshold for the respective specific protein is determined from the body fluid of a plurality of subjects being part of a diseased subject population suffering from the from colorectal cancer (CRC) and/or metastases thereof. Especially preferably, said threshold or median threshold for the respective specific protein is determined from the body fluid of a plurality of subjects being part of a diseased subject population suffering from the from metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

For example, for determining said median threshold for one or more said specific proteins, body fluid samples (here: blood samples) are taken from 197 human subjects suffering from metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in order to obtain about 500 μL offer a preferred body fluid (here: blood plasma). The levels of the contained specific proteins of interest, e.g. STX1A, are determined using an aptamer based protein detection system, e.g. the SomaLogic Proteomic Affinity Assay Method described in detail in the Experimental Section, whereby results for each protein of interest are represented by relative fluorescence readouts reported by the detection system. In an optional next step, the obtained raw data set can be simplified by removing the data of proteins not of interest, e.g. proteins that are known to be derived or affected by inadequate sample handling during plasma protein, such as platelet activation or cell lysis which may occur during the plasma preparation process. The thus obtained (optionally simplified) day that said is then preferably subjected to steps such as Data normalization and filtering procedures in order to obtain robust signals of the proteins of interest. Preferably, this data analysis process includes a cut-of optimisation. This procedure thus provides a median threshold of one or more specific proteins of interest, e.g. the median threshold for the protein STX1A. Taking this obtained median threshold, both said 197 human subjects suffering from metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), as well as future human subjects suffering from mCRC, can then be readily characterised as having a high level or a low level, respectively, of one or more specific proteins of interest, e.g. STX1A, with the predicted specific impact on the clinical outcome of the treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, optionally in combination with one or more chemotherapeutic agents.

Preferably, the body fluid sampling and/or the evaluation of the median value for the respective specific protein is performed prior to treatment of the respective solid cancer, colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, or other bone metastasis disease, preferably colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, and especially metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), with said at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor. Preferably, patients are classified as “high level” if their respective specific protein level in said body fluid is higher than the median threshold. Accordingly, patients are preferably classified as “low level” if their respective specific protein level in said body fluid is lower than or equal to said median threshold.

More preferably, the threshold for categorization of patients into “low level” or “high level” for each of said specific proteins is preferably determined by listing of all available levels for that respective specific protein in the blood plasma, then determining the median from this listing of said specific protein level values in said blood plasma, and taking this median value as the threshold. This threshold is preferably also referred to herein as median threshold. Preferably, the blood plasma sampling and/or the evaluation of the median value for the respective specific protein is performed prior to treatment of the respective solid cancer, colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, or other bone metastases disease, preferably colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, and especially metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), with said at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor. Preferably, patients are classified as “high level” if their respective specific protein level in said blood plasma is higher than the median threshold. Accordingly, patients are preferably classified as “low level” if their respective specific protein level in said blood plasma is lower than or equal to said median threshold. Preferably, the solid cancer and/or metastases thereof in this regard is colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof and especially metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Preferably, the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor comprises Abituzumab or Intetumumab). More preferably, the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor is Abituzumab or Intetumumab. especially preferred, the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor is Abituzumab.

More preferably, the threshold for categorization of patients into “low level” or “high level” for each of said specific proteins is preferably determined by listing of all available levels for that respective specific protein in the blood plasma, then determining the median from this listing of said specific protein level values in said blood plasma, and taking this median value as the threshold. This threshold is preferably also referred to herein as median threshold. Preferably, the blood plasma sampling and/or the evaluation of the median value for the respective specific protein is performed prior to treatment of the respective solid cancer, colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, or other bone metastasis disease, preferably colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, and especially metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), with said at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor. Preferably, patients are classified as “high level” if their respective specific protein level in said blood plasma is higher than the median threshold. Accordingly, patients are preferably classified as “low level” if their respective specific protein level in said blood plasma is lower than or equal to said median threshold. Preferably, the solid cancer and/or metastases thereof in this regard is colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof and especially metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Preferably, the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor comprises Abituzumab or Intetumumab). More preferably, the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor is Abituzumab or Intetumumab. especially preferred, the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor is Abituzumab.

Methods to determine said threshold level and especially said median threshold level are known in the art. Examples of suitable technologies include, but are not limited to the SomaLogic technology, preferably the SomaLogic Proteomic Affinity Assay technology, SomaLogic SOMAscan™/V3/Version 10.5.1.1, ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assays) technologies and variants thereof, including the RIA (Radio Immuno Assay) technology as high sensitivity variant, the 2D SDS-Polyacryamid electrophorese (SDS-PAGE) Mass Spectrometry technology, and Proximity Ligation Assay (PLA) technologies.

More specifically, the threshold for classification of patients into the ‘high’ and ‘low’ groups on the basis of plasma levels of the mentioned proteins is preferably the median plasma level across the patient population. The threshold may show a slight, but irrelevant dependency from the actual technology employed.

Preferably, protein plasma levels of samples that are to be classified are measured using the SomaLogic technology, preferably the SomaLogic Proteomic Affinity Assay technology (Somalogic, Inc., 2945 Wilderness PI, Boulder, Colo. 80301, USA, software package and version number as described herein) as described herein. The median plasma levels that are accordingly identified can be used as threshold for classification into ‘low’ and ‘high’ categories, preferably after the new SomaLogic patient profile is processed with data normalization steps, such as it has been performed in the analysis described herein. For example, the patient's pre-treatment proteomic profiles on 888 plasma protein levels—as it is prepared by the SomaLogic system—can advantageously be combined with existing pre-treatment data set for all samples, variance stabilzation as implemented in the vsn2 package which was applied. Finally, the normalized patient's pre-treatment level for the specific protein of interest can be retrieved and compared with the specific median threshold for the protein of interest (median thresholds for predicitivity for OS—CCL.23: 16.1 signal units, IGHD_IGK_IGL: 11.3, TPO: 11.2, IL17A: 7.64, TGM3: 8.19, TK1: 9.53, STX1A: 8.96, median thresholds for predicitivity for PFS—PGF: 8.62; all median thresholds are given as protein level units on a log 2 scale as measured by Somalogic technology and after variance-stabilizing normalization of the data set) as received from the clinical study described herein (POSEIDON study). In case no prior data set is available, or the technology to measure the plasma protein levels is not the SomaLogic technology, the median population plasma level—as it comes from the new technology or the new patient population (that preferably comprises at least 120 patients for the respective indication) is preferably determined first, then classification can be readily done on the basis of the new population median.

Especially preferably, patients are classified as “high level” if their respective specific protein level in said blood plasma is at least 2% higher, more preferably at least 5% higher, even more preferably at least 10% higher and especially at least 25% higher than said median threshold for the respective specific protein.

Especially preferably, patients are classified as “low level” if their respective specific protein level in said blood plasma is at least 2% lower more preferably at least 5% lower, even more preferably at least 10% lower and especially at least 25% lower than said median threshold for the respective specific protein.

Usually, said thresholds and/or said median thresholds are determined in a subject population having a solid tumor and/or metastases thereof, preferably the respective solid tumor and/or metastases thereof. Preferably, this is done independently for each respective specific protein of interest.

More preferably, said threshold and/or said median threshold is determined in a subject population having colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, preferably independently for each respective specific protein of interest.

Preferably, said specific proteins according to the invention comprise

a) one or more proteins, selected from the group consisting of

TPO (Somamer ID: SL000588; UniProt ID: P07202),

CCL23.1 (Somamer ID: SL003302; UniProt ID: P55773),

IGHD_IGK._IGL. (Somamer ID: SL000460; UniProt ID: P01880),

TK1 (Somamer ID: SL000057; UniProt ID: P04183),

IL17A (Somamer ID: SL001713; UniProt ID: Q16552),

STX1A (Somamer ID: SL004304; UniProt ID: Q16623), and

PGF (Somamer ID: SL002640; UniProt ID: P49763),

and/or

b) one protein, selected which is

TGM3 (Somamer ID: SL008945; UniProt ID: Q08188);

and/or preferably also proteins having at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, even more preferably at least 95% and especially at least 99% sequence homology to said specific proteins.

More preferably, a high level as defined herein for one or more specific proteins in the respective body fluid, preferably in the blood plasma, of the patient is advantageous with respect to the clinical outcome, if said high level of said one or more specific proteins in said body fluid comprises one or more of the proteins selected from the group consisting of

TPO (Somamer ID: SL000588; UniProt ID: P07202),

CCL23.1 (Somamer ID: SL003302; UniProt ID: P55773),

IGHD_IGK._IGL. (Somamer ID: SL000460; UniProt ID: P01880),

TK1 (Somamer ID: SL000057; UniProt ID: P04183),

IL17A (Somamer ID: SL001713; UniProt ID: 016552),

STX1A (Somamer ID: SL004304; UniProt ID: Q16623), and

PGF (Somamer ID: SL002640; UniProt ID: P49763),

and/or preferably also proteins having at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, even more preferably at least 95% and especially at least 99% sequence homology to said specific proteins.

More preferably, a low level as defined herein for one or more specific proteins in the respective body fluid, preferably in the blood plasma, of the patient is advantageous with respect to the clinical outcome of the treatment of the respective solid cancer, colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, or other bone metastasis disease, preferably colorectal cancer and/or metastases thereof, and especially metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), with the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, if said low level of said one or more specific proteins in said body fluid comprises the protein

TGM3 (Somamer ID: SL008945; UniProt ID: Q08188);

and/or preferably also a protein having at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, even more preferably at least 95% and especially at least 99% sequence homology to said specific protein.

Especially preferred is a method as described herein, wherein said subject is characterised by a high level of the protein

STX1A (UniProt ID: Q16623)

and/or a protein having at least 80%, more preferably at least 90% even more preferably 95% and especially at least 99% sequence homology to said protein.

Preferably, sequence homology of the proteins described herein is determined using BLASTp algorithms.

Said specific proteins are preferably characterised by the following sequences and/or sequence IDs (Amino acid sequences of protein listed in Table 1 as identified by UniProt IDs in FASTA format):

Amino acid sequences of protein mentioned in table 1 as identified by UniProt IDs in FASTA format:

TPO (Thyroid peroxidase) (SEQ ID NO: 10): >Sp|P07202|PERT_HUMAN Thyroid peroxidase OS = Homo sapiens GN = TPO PE = 1 SV = 4 MRALAVLSVTLVMACTEAFFPFISRGKELLWGKPE ESRVSSVLEESKRLVDTAMYATMQRNLKKRGILSP AQLLSFSKLPEPTSGVIARAAEIMETSIQAMKRKV NLKTQQSQHPTDALSEDLLSIIANMSGCLPYMLPP KCPNTCLANKYRPITGACNNRDHPRWGASNTALAR WLPPVYEDGFSQPRGWNPGFLYNGFPLPPVREVTR HVIQVSNEWTDDDRYSDLLMAWGQYIDHDIAFTPQ STSKAAFGGGADCQMTCENQNPCFPIQLPEEARPA AGTACLPFYRSSAACGTGDQGALFGNLSTANPRQQ MNGLTSFLDASTVYGSSPALERQLRNWTSAEGLLR VHARLRDSGRAYLPFVPPRAPAACAPEPGIPGETR GPCFLAGDGRASEVPSLTALHTLWLREHNRLAAAL KALNAHWSADAVYQEARKVVGALHQIITLRDYIPR ILGPEAFQQYVGPYEGYDSTANPTVSNVFSTAAFR FGHATIHPLVRRLDASFQEHPDLPGLWLHQAFFSP WTLLRGGGLDPLIRGLLARPAKLQVQDQLMNEELT ERLFVLSNSSTLDLASINLQRGRDHGLPGYNEWRE FCGLPRLETPADLSTAIASRSVADKILDLYKHPDN IDVWLGGLAENFLPRARTGPLFACLIGKQMKALRD GDWFWWENSHVFTDAQRRELEKHSLSRVICDNTGL TRVPMDAFQVGKFPEDFESCDSITGMNLEAWRETF PQDDKCGFPESVENGDFVHCEESGRRVLVYSCRHG YELQGREQLTCTQEGWDFQPPLCKDVNECADGAHP PCHASARCRNTKGGFQCLCADPYELGDDGRTCVDS GRLPRVTWISMSLAALLIGGFAGLTSTVICRWRTG TKSTLPISETGGGTPELRCGKHQAVGTSPQRAAAQ DSEQESAGMEGRDTHRLPRAL CCL23.1 (Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 23) (SEQ ID NO: 11): >Sp|P55773|CCL23_HUMAN C-C motif chemokine 23 OS = Homo sapiens GN = CCL23 PE = 1 SV = 3 MKVSVAALSCLMLVTALGSQARVTKDAETEFMMSK LPLENPVLLDRFHATSADCCISYTPRSIPCSLLES YFETNSECSKPGVIFLTKKGRRFCANPSDKQVQVC VRMLKLDTRIKTRKN IGHD_IGK._IGL. (Immuno-globulin D) (SEQ ID NO: 12): >sp|P01880|IGHD_HUMAN Ig delta chain C region OS = Homo sapiens GN = IGHD PE = 1 SV = 2 APTKAPDVFPIISGCRHPKDNSPVVLACLITGYHP TSVTVTWYMGTQSQPQRTFPEIQRRDSYYMTSSQL STPLQQWRQGEYKCWQHTASKSKKEIFRWPESPKA QASSVPTAQPQAEGSLAKATTAPATTRNTGRGGEE KKKEKEKEEQEERETKTPECPSHTQPLGVYLLTPA VQDLWLRDKATFTCFVVGSDLKDAHLTWEVAGKVP TGGVEEGLLERHSNGSQSQHSRLTLPRSLWNAGTS VTCTLNHPSLPPQRLMALREPAAQAPVKLSLNLLA SSDPPEAASWLLCEVSGFSPPNILLMWLEDQREVN TSGFAPARPPPQPGSTTFWAWSVLRVPAPPSPQPA TYTCVVSHEDSRTLLNASRSLEVSYVTDHGPMK TGM3 (Protein-glutamine gamma-glutamyl- transferase E) (SEQ ID NO: 13): >sp|Q08188|TGM3_HUMAN Protein-glutamine gamma-glutamyltransferase E OS = Homo sapiens GN = TGM3 PE = 1 SV = 4 MAALGVQSINWQTAFNRQAHHTDKFSSQELILRRG QNFQVLMIMNKGLGSNERLEFSVSTGPYPSESAMT KAVFPLSNGSSGGWSAVLQASNGNTLTISISSPAS APIGRYTMALQIFSQGGISSVKLGTFILLFNPWLN VDSVFMGNHAEREEYVQEDAGIIFVGSTNRIGMIG WNFGQFEEDILSICLSILDRSLNFRRDAATDVASR NDPKYVGRVLSAMINSNDDNGVLAGNWSGTYTGGR DPRSWNGSVEILKNWKKSGFSPVRYGQCWVFAGTL NTALRSLGIPSRVITNFNSAHDTDRNLSVDVYYDP MGNPLDKGSDSVWNFHVWNEGWFVRSDLGPSYGGW QVLDATPQERSQGVFQCGPASVIGVREGDVQLNFD MPFIFAEVNADRITWLYDNTTGKQWKNSVNSHTIG RYISTKAVGSNARMDVTDKYKYPEGSDQERQVFQK ALGKLKPNTPFAATSSMGLETEEQEPSIIGKLKVA GMLAVGKEVNLVLLLKNLSRDTKTVTVNMTAWTII YNGTLVHEVWKDSATMSLDPEEEAEHPIKISYAQY EKYLKSDNMIRITAVCKVPDESEVWERDISLDNPT LTLEVLNEARVRKPVNVQMLFSNPLDEPVRDCVLM VEGSGLLLGNLKIDVPTLGPKEGSRVRFDILPSRS GTKQLLADFSCNKFPAIKAMLSIDVAE STX1A (Syntaxin 1α) (SEQ ID NO: 14): >sp|Q16623|STX1A_HUMAN Syntaxin-1A OS = Homo sapiens GN = STX1A PE = 1 SV = 1 MKDRTQELRTAKDSDDDDDVAVTVDRDRFMDEFFE QVEEIRGFIDKIAENVEEVKRKHSAILASPNPDEK TKEELEELMSDIKKTANKVRSKLKSIEQSIEQEEG LNRSSADLRIRKTQHSTLSRKFVEVMSEYNATQSD YRERCKGRIQRQLEITGRTTTSEELEDMLESGNPA IFASGIIMDSSISKQALSEIETRHSEIKLENSIRE LHDMFMDMAMLVESQGEMIDRIEYNVEHAVDYVER AVSDTKKAVKYQSKARRKKIMIIICCVILGIVIAS TVGGIFA TK1 (Thymidine kinase 1) (SEQ ID NO: 15): >sp|P04183|KITH_HUMAN Thymidine kinase, cytosolic OS = Homo sapiens GN = TK1 PE = 1 SV = 2 MSCINLPTVLPGSPSKTRGQIQVILGPMFSGKSTE LMRRVRRFQIAQYKCLVIKYAKDTRYSSSFCTHDR NTMEALPACLLRDVAQEALGVAVIGIDEGQFFPDI VEFCEAMANAGKTVIVAALDGTFQRKPFGAILNLV PLAESVVKLTAVCMECFREAAYTKRLGTEKEVEVI GGADKYHSVCRLCYFKKASGQPAGPDNKENCPVPG KPGEAVAARKLFAPQQILQCSPAN IL17A (Interleukin-17A) (SEQ ID NO: 16): >sp|Q16552|L17_HUMAN Interleukin-17A OS = Homo sapiens GN = IL17A PE = 1 SV = 1 MTPGKTSLVSLLLLLSLEAIVKAGITIPRNPGCPN SEDKNFPRTVMVNLNIHNRNTNTNPKRSSDYYNRS TSPWNLHRNEDPERYPSVIWEAKCRHLGCINADGN VDYHMNSVPIQQEILVLRREPPHCPNSFRLEKILV SVGCTCVTPIVHHVA PGF (Placental growth factor) (SEQ ID NO: 17): >Sp|P49763|PLGF_HUMAN Placenta growth factor OS = Homo sapiens GN = PGF PE = 1 SV = 2 MPVMRLFPCFLQLLAGLALPAVPPQQWALSAGNGS SEVEWPFQEVWGRSYCRALERLVDVVSEYPSEVEH MFSPSCVSLLRCTGCCGDENLHCVPVETANVTMQL LKIRSGDRPSYVELTFSQHVRCECRHSPGRQSPDM PGDFRADAPSFLPPRRSLPMLFRMEWGCALTGSQS AVWPSSPVPEEIPRMHPGRNGKKQQRKPLREKMKP ERCGDAVPRR

Specific proteins according to the invention are preferably also proteins having at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, even more preferably at least 95% and especially at least 99% sequence homology to the afore described sequences.

As further described herein, a high level of one or more proteins of a first group of said specific proteins and/or a low level of one or more proteins from a second group of specific proteins is predictive for improved clinical benefit, preferably clinical benefit as described herein, under treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, preferably including or consisting of Abituzumab, for subjects suffering from colorectal cancer (CRC) and/or metastases thereof and especially for subjects suffering from metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Preferably, a high level of one or more proteins of a first group of said specific proteins and/or a low level of one or more proteins from a second group of specific proteins is predictive for improved overall survival and/or improved progression free survival, under treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, preferably including or consisting of Abituzumab, for subjects suffering from solid cancers and/or metastases thereof.

In an alternatively preferred embodiment, Intetumumab (CNTO-95) can be employed as the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor in the method according to the invention, instead of Abituzumab.

Said protein levels for said specific proteins are preferably at the same time negative prognostic indicating that the biologically addressed by the markers plays a role both for disease prognosis (summarized in Table 2).

TABLE 1 Clinical outcome dependent on the respective specific protein level under Abituzumab treatment: Patients with Hazard Ratio benefit have (HR) High(er) or Survival of overall Low(er) endpoint survival plasma levels for which (OS) * Logrank Gene symbol UniProt compared to benefit is [CI 95%] test (Somamer ID) ID median observed *except PGF p-value TPO P07202 High OS 0.472 0.015 Thyroid peroxidase [0.260-0.855] (SL000588) CCL23.1 P55773 High OS 0.400 0.0022 Chemokine (C—C [0.227-0.706] motif) ligand 23 (SL03302) IGHD_IGK._IGL. P01880 High OS 0.389 0.0007 Immuno-globulin [0.227-0.668] D (SL000460) TGM3 Q08188 Low OS 0.500 0.012 Protein-glutamine [0.292-0.855] gamma-glutamyl- transferase E (SL008945) STX1A Q16623 High OS 0.569 0.04 Syntaxin 1α [0.331-0.977] (SL004304) TK1 P04183 High OS 0.491 0.022 Thymidine kinase [0.273-0.884] 1 (SL000057) IL17A Q16552 High OS 0.386 0.0015 Interleukin-17A [0.215-0.693] (SL001713) PGF P49763 High PFS HR of 0.0057 Placental growth progression factor free survival (SL002640) (PFS) [CI 95%] 0.504 [0.314-0.810]

TABLE 2 Clinical outcome (here as determined by OS) dependent on the respective specific protein level under SoC treatment: High levels indicate good, or poor Gene symbol prognosis under SOC (Somamer ID) UniProt ID [HR] TPO P07202 Thyroid peroxidase (SL000588) Chemokine (C—C P55773 Poor motif) ligand 23 [2.21] (SL003302) IGHD_IGK._IGL. P01880 Poor Immuno-globulin D [2.38] (SL000460) TGM3 Q08188 Good Protein-glutamine [0.656) gamma-glutamyl- transferase E (SL008945) STX1A Q16623 Poor Syntaxin 1α [1.82] (SL004304) TK1 P04183 Poor Thymidine kinase 1 [1.15] (SL000057) IL17A Q16552 Poor Interleukin-17A [1.64] (SL001713) PGF P49763 Poor Placental growth [2.30] factor (SL002640)

The clinical outcome of patients having tumors and/or metastases (both preferably also referred to as tumour lesions or lesions) is preferably analysed according to response (complete and partial), benefit (response and stable disease), and progressive disease. Lesions are preferably evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (i.e. RECIST criteria) whereby “complete response” (CR) is preferably defined as the disappearance of the target lesions; “partial response” (PR) is preferably defined as at least a 30% decrease in the sum of the longest iron metre of target lesions, preferably taking as reference the baseline sum longest diameter; “progressive disease” (PD) is preferably defined as at least a 20% increase in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions, preferably taking as reference the smallest sum longest diameter recorded since the treatment started or the appearance of one or more new lesions; and “stable disease” (SD) is preferably defined as neither sufficient shrinkage to qualify for partial response nor sufficient increased to qualify for progressive disease, preferably taking as reference the smallest sum longest diameter since the treatment started.

Preferably, the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, preferably Abituzumab or Intetumumab (ONTO-95), is administered to said subject in combination with one or more chemotherapeutic agents.

Preferably, said one or more chemotherapeutic agents are selected from the group consisting of cetuximab, Panitumumab, irinotecan, vinorelbine, capecitabine, leucovorine, oxaliplatin, cisplatin, carboplatin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), bevacizumab, aflibercept and regorafenib.

Alternatively or additionally, one or more chemotherapeutic agents,

a) selected from the group consisting of Leuproreline acetate, bicalutamide, nilutamide, triptoreline, gosereline, flutamide, cyproterone, busereline and degarelix,

b) selected from the group consisting of Zoledronic acid, Pamidronic acid, Clodronate disodium, Alendronic acid and Ibandronic acid,

and/or

c) selected from the group consisting of Abiraterone, Abiraterone acetate, Prednisone, Enzalutamide, Radium Ra 223 dichloride, Docetaxel, Sipuleucel-T, Cabazitaxel and Mitoxantrone,

can be employed.

Especially preferably, the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, preferably Abituzumab or Intetumumab (ONTO-95), more preferably Abituzumab, is administered to said subject in combination with two or more chemotherapeutic agents, preferably referred to as standards of care (SoC).

Preferred standards of care (SoC) include, but are not limited to:

the FOLFOX regimen, comprising 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), leucovorin (follinic acid) and oxaliplatin;

the FOLFIRI regimen, comprising folinic acid (leucovorin), fluorouracil (5-FU) and irinotecan; or

the CAPDX regimen, comprising capecitabine and oxaliplatin.

Preferably, the FOLFOX regimen, the FOLFIRI regimen and the CAPOX regimen can be advantageously combined with:

anti-EGFR Therapy, preferably in kras wild-type patients, comprising or consisting of Cetuximab or Panitumumab,

anti-VEGF Therapy, comprising or consisting of Bevacizumab or Aflibercept, or

multi-kinase Therapy, comprising or consisting of Regorafenib.

More preferred standards of care (SoC) include, but are not limited to:

cetuximab in combination with irinotecan,

cetuximab in combination with irinotecan and leucovorin,

cetuximab in combination with irinotecan, 5-FU and leucovorin.

The cetuximab-containing regimen are preferred in subjects/patients having k-ras codon 2 wild-type cancer tissue status.

Especially preferred standards of care (SoC) include, but are not limited to: Cetuximab in combination with irinotecan

Preferably, the cetuximab is administered to a subject in an amount of 400 mg/m² on Day 1 of the first cycle and afterwards in an amount of 250 mg/m² every two weeks.

Preferably, the irinotecan is administered to the subject in an amount of 180 mg/m² every two weeks.

However, the treatment of solid cancers and/or metastases thereof may involve surgery, radiation therapy including brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), chemotherapy, oral chemotherapeutic drugs (Temozolomide/TMZ), cryosurgery, hormonal therapy, or combinations thereof.

Most hormone dependent cancers become refractory after one to three years and resume growth despite hormone therapy. Previously considered “hormone-refractory cancer” or “androgen-independent cancer”, the term castration-resistant has replaced “hormone refractory” because while they are no longer responsive to castration treatment (reduction of available androgen/testosterone/DHT by chemical or surgical means), these cancers still show reliance upon hormones for androgen receptor activation.

Chemotherapeutics in this respect preferably include, but are not limited to docetaxel, cabazitaxel, bevacizumab, docetaxel, thalidomide and prednisone, and combinations thereof. E.g., a combination of bevacizumab, docetaxel, thalidomide and prednisone has shown clinical benefits.

Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) agonists and/or antagonists as well as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) are hormone therapy drugs that lower the production of testosterone in a man's body. This drop in testosterone usually slows or stops the growth of prostate cancer and/or the metastases thereof for a period of time.

Pain is common in metastatic cancers and especially in case of bone metastases thereof, and cancer pain related to bone metastases can be treated with bisphosphonates, medications such as opioids, and palliative radiation therapy to known metastases. Spinal cord compression can occur with metastases to the spine, and can be treated with steroids, surgery, or radiation therapy.

The traditional treatments for cancer are Radiotherapy and chemotherapy, usually in combination with one another. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are researching drugs to target different types of cancer, including metastatic bone disease.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has CE approval for palliative care for bone metastasis. As an entirely side-effect free and non-invasive treatment, HIFU has been successfully applied in the treatment of cancer to destroy tumours of the bone, brain, breast, liver, pancreas, rectum, kidney, testes, and prostate.

One treatment option for bone metastases that has to be considered is treatment with bisphosphonates, often in combination of other chemotherapeutics and/or (anti-)hormonal treatment. Bisphosphonates have shown great promise in reducing bone cancer pain, bone destruction, and tumor growth.

Monthly injections of radium-223 chloride (as Xofigo, formerly called Alpharadin) have been approved by the FDA in May 2013 for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) with bone metastases,

Integrins affect a variety of cellular functions that influence tumor progression, metastases, and angiogenesis in animal models (Desgrosellier J S, et al. Nat Rev Cancer 2010; 10:9-22).

αv integrins are cell adhesion molecules involved in cell survival, proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis; they are deregulated in various cancer types (Legate K R, et al. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2006; 7:20-31; Guise T A, et al. Clin Cancer Res 2006; 12:6213s-16s).

Abituzumab is a humanized monoclonal IgG2 antibody that specifically targets all αv integrins (Mitjans F, et al. J Cell Sci 1995; 108:2825-38, Monnier Y, et al, Cancer Res 2008:68; 7323-31).

In colorectal cancer (CRC), integrin αvβ6 is expressed on tumor Cells (Goodman S L, et al. Biol Open 2012; 1:329-40); αvβ6 overexpression is associated with significantly reduced median overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced CRC (Bates RC, et al. J Clin Invest 2005; 115:339-47).

In human tumor xenograft models, antitumor activity was observed with abituzumab, and an enhanced antitumor effect was observed when abituzumab was combined with either cetuximab or irinotecan.

POSEIDON, an open-label, randomized, controlled, comparative, multicenter phase I/II study in patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC) who have failed first-line oxaliplatin therapy examining abituzumab in combination with the standard of care (SoC: cetuximab plus irinotecan), showed very interesting outcomes.

In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II trial, a total of 216 patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive

a) standard of care (SoC), e.g. cetuximab plus irinotecan plus placebo,

b) SoC as described under a) plus abituzumab 500 mg, or

c) SoC as described under a) plus abituzumab 1000 mg.

This showed that in the ITT population, neither dose of abituzumab significantly improved median PFS or RR. However, a trend toward improved CS was observed (abituzumab 500 mg: 15.0 [95% CI 10.9-19.2] months, HR 0.83 [0.54-1.28] vs SOC; abituzumab 1,000 mg 14.4 [9.8-19.3] months, HR 0.80 [0.52-1.25] vs SOC; vs 11.6 [9.8-15.7] months for SOC), suggesting clinical activity.

Blood sampling for plasma protein analyses was scheduled pre-treatment. Plasma protein analyses (based on highly protein-specific aptamers [SomaLogic system]) were performed on samples taken from 197 patients prior to treatment in cycle 1.

The original set of simultaneously determined 1,129 plasma protein levels was restricted to 888 proteins on the data level to avoid potential bias due to cell lysis or platelet activation during plasma preparation. Nine global biomarker search analyses were carried out using different normalization procedures, data sets and biomarker dichotomization thresholds, with the aim of filtering specific proteins that are predictive biomarkers for Abituzumab therapy success. The judgement whether a distinct protein is a predictive biomarker was based on an assessment of outcome (OS or PFS) in dependence of treatment (SoC or Abituzumab) and biomarker levels (continuous levels, and dichotomized categories “high” and “low” using the median of the investigated patient population as a threshold). Statistical tests were carried out per protein to identify those proteins that can be considered as predictive. The statistical tests are prior art and comprised. Among other criteria, logrank tests on selected populations, as for example the biomarker “high” and biomarker “low” populations, for detection of differences in outcome (here OS and/or PFS) for different treatment groups (Abituzumab and SOC; threshold p<=0.05), and Cox regression models investigating dependence of outcome on the interaction effect between treatment and continuous marker levels (interaction term p<=0.05). Further, the prognosticity of the marker levels was assessed on the basis of the patient group receiving SOC therapy using logrank tests (threshold p<=0.05) for the “high” and “low” subgroups.

This process identified 8 biomarker specific proteins in the plasma. The characteristics in which it is judged that the 8 biomarker specific proteins identified are active and whether levels above or below the median are predictive and/or prognostic are shown in Table 1 and/or 2.

Plasma Protein Analyses

Pre-treatment samples with full SomaLogic data (888 genes) were available for 192 tumors (122 treated with abituzumab; 70 treated with SoC alone). Plasma levels of each of the identified biomarker specific plasma proteins predicted increased survival with abituzumab compared to SoC alone in either the patients with “high” or the patients with “low” levels of the protein, and most were prognostic for survival (see FIG. 1 and for representative curves for CCL23, which is associated with CRC prognosis via CCR18, see one or more of FIGS. 1-18 for other proteins).

Furthermore, analysis of the biological context of other markers indicated that markers related to known molecular interactions of abituzumab (bone metabolism modulation and angiogenesis) appear to predict OS and/or PFS with abituzumab therapy.

Thus, plasma levels of each of the identified biomarker plasma proteins were surprisingly found to be prognostic of survival and predicted increased survival and/or progression free survival with abituzumab compared to SoC alone.

Thus, the clinical study delivered data on the pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity of abituzumab, as well as enabled analyses in search of predictive biomarkers, and surprisingly provided specific predictive protein levels in body fluids, especially specific plasma protein levels that allow predicting the therapy outcome under treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, preferably including the pan αv integrin inhibitor abituzumab.

Abituzumab is a monoclonal anti-alpha v antibody also designated herein as DI-17E6, DI17E6, EMR62242 and/or EMD 525797).

DI17E6 is an engineered specifically tailored IgG2 hybrid monoclonal antibody directed to alpha-v integrin (receptor). Cancer therapy by means of this antibody reduces side effects associated with this type of therapy, above all immune reactions, thereby reducing immunogenicity. The antibody is described in detail in WO 2009/010290, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

Its hypervariable regions (CDRs) derive from murine mAb 17E6 (EMD 73034). This parent mouse IgG1 antibody is described, for example by Mitjans et al. (1995; J. Cell Sci. 108, 2825) and patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,278 and EP 719 859. Mouse mAb 17E6 is produced by hybridoma cell line 272-17E6 and deposited under accession number DSM ACC2160.

Its light chain domains derive from humanized monoclonal anti-EGFR antibody 425 (matuzumab). This antibody is described in detail for example in EP 0 531 472B1, and derives from its murine counterpart 425 (mouse MAb 425, ATCC HB39629). The antibody was raised against the human A431 carcinoma cell line and found to bind to a polypeptide epitope on the external domain of the human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Matuzumab has shown in clinical trials high efficacy,

Generally DI17E6 as used according to the invention comprises:

(i) a CDR light and a heavy chain region deriving from mouse monoclonal anti-civ integrin antibody 17E6

(ii) a light chain framework region which is taken from humanized monoclonal anti-EGFR antibody 425,

(iii) a heavy chain framework region deriving from mouse monoclonal anti-αv integrin antibody 17E6, optionally comprising one or more mutations of amino acids at specific positions, and

(iv) a heavy chain constant region deriving from human IgG2 and a human constant kappa light chain region,

wherein in said IgG2 domain the IgG2 hinge region was replaced by the human IgG1 hinge domain, and;

wherein optionally one or more mutations within the IgG2 has been carried out.

Specifically, DI17E6 (designated as “DI-17E6γ2h(N297Q)” or “EMD 525797”) as used for the treatment as described and in the clinical trials as described above and below, has the following amino acid sequence:

(i) variable and constant light chain sequences (SEQ ID No. 1): DIQMTQSPSSLSASVGDRVTITCRASQDISNYLAWYQQKPGKAPKLLIY YTSKIHSGVPSRFSGSGSGTDYTFTISSLQPEDIATYYCQQGNTFPYTF GQGTKVEIKRTVAAPSVFIFPPSDEQLKSGTASVVCLLNNFYPREAKVQ WKVDNALQSGNSQESVTEQDSKDSTYSLSSTLTLSKADYEKHKVYACEV THQGLSSPVTKSFNRGEC and (ii) variable and constant heavy chain sequences (SEQ ID No. 2): QVQLQQSGGELAKPGASVKVSCKASGYTFSSFWMHWVRQAPGQGLEWIG YINPRSGYTEYNEIFRDKATMTTDTSTSTAYMELSSLRSEDTAVYYCAS FLGRGAMDYWGQGTTVTVSSASTKGPSVFPLAPCSRSTSESTAALGCLV KDYFPEPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSNFGT QTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVDKTVEPKSSDKTHTCPPCPAPPVAGPSVFLFPP KPKDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVQFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREE QAQSTFRVVSVLTVVHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKGLPAPIEKTISKTKGQP REPQVYTLPPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYK TTPPMLDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSL SLSPGK,

wherein the underlined sequences represent the variable regions with the CDRs (in bold, identical with the parent mouse antibody). The modified IgG1 hinge region is represented by EPKSSDKTHTCPPCP (amino acids 217-231 of SEQ ID No. 2), and AQ is a substitution within the IgG2 domain.

However, as it was shown in WO 2009/010290, also variants of DI17E6 can be used according to the teaching of this invention. Thus, DI17E6 variants comprising one or more modifications within the heavy chain framework regions

FR1: (SEQ ID No. 3) QVQLQQSG A ELA E PGASVK M SCKASGYTFS FR2: (SEQ ID No. 4) WV K Q R PGQGLEWIG FR3: (SEQ ID No. 5) KATMT A DTS S STAYM Q LS G L T SED S AVYYCAS FR4: (SEQ ID No. 18) WGQGT S VTVSS,

wherein one or more of the bold and underlined positions are mutated, can be used in the treatment of prostate cancer patients as described. In more detail, the following position heavy chain framework region is mutated at one, more or all of the following positions can be mutated: A9, E13, M20, K38, R40, A72, S76, Q82, G85, T87, S91 and S113. These variants show the same or very similar biological activity and efficacy as compared to DI17E6 defined by its sequences above.

In general, the invention as described includes also modifications and variants of the DI17E6 antibody that are functionally and/or pharmaceutically identical or similar to unmodified DI17E6, and wherein the CDR regions and heavy and light chain variable regions are at least 80%, or at least 85%, or at least 90%, or at least 95% identical in their amino acid sequence compared to the respective variable regions of DI17E6. In addition, the invention also includes modifications and variants of the DI17E6 antibody that are functionally and/or pharmaceutically identical or similar to unmodified DI17E6, and wherein the constant regions are at least 80%, or at least 85%, or at least 90%, or at least 98% identical in their amino acid sequence compared to the respective constant regions of DI17E6. Changes is the constant regions of the IgG chains of the antibody may improve specific properties like immunogenicity, ADCC, and so on.

Thus, for use according the invention, also functional derivatives, biologically active variants or modifications of DI17E6 can be employed.

Accordingly, in the context of the present invention, the terms “Abituzumab” and/or “DI17E6” preferably also comprise:

a biologically active variant or modification thereof that comprises the CDR regions and heavy and light chain variable regions, which are 80%-95% identical in amino acid sequence compared to the variable regions of Abituzumab;

a biologically active variant or modification that comprises a constant region, which is at least 80%-98% identical with the amino acid sequence compared to the constant region of Abituzumab;

an antibody that comprises one or more modifications within the heavy chain framework regions

FR1: (SEQ ID No. 3) QVQLQQSG A ELA E PGASV K MSCKASGYTFS FR2: (SEQ ID No. 4) WV K Q R PGQGLEWIG FR3: (SEQ ID No. 5) KATMT A DTS S STAYM Q LS G L T SED S AVYYCAS FR4: (SEQ ID No. 18) WGQGT S VTVSS,

wherein one or more of the bold and underlined positions are mutated and are different compared to the original respective sequence of abituzumab;

and/or

a modified DI17E6 antibody comprising a human IgG1 constant region instead of human IgG2, or a human IgG2 hinge region instead of the human IgG1 hinge.

Intetumumab or CNTO-95 is a human monoclonal antibody, preferably used in the treatment of solid tumors. It is also an anti-αv integrin antibody, which is preferably comprising human heavy chain and human light chain variable regions comprising the amino acid sequences as shown in SEQ ID NO: 6 and SEQ ID NO:7 (in U.S. Pat. No. 7,550,142, Sequence 7 and Sequence 8, respectively), as shown below:

<210> SEQ ID NO 7 <211> LENGTH: 119 <212> TYPE: PRT <213> ORGANISM: Homo sapiens <400> SEQUENCE: 7 Gln Val Gln Leu Val Glu Ser Gly Gly Gly Val Val Gln Pro Gly Arg 1               5                   10                  15 Ser Arg Arg Leu Ser Cys Ala Ala Ser Gly Phe Thr Phe Ser Arg Tyr             20                  25                  30 Thr Met His Trp Val Arg Gln Ala Pro Gly Lys Gly Leu Glu Trp Val         35                  40                  45 Ala Val Ile Ser Phe Asp Gly Ser Asn Lys Tyr Tyr Val Asp Ser Val     50                  55                  60 Lys Gly Arg Phe Thr Ile Ser Arg Asp Asn Ser Glu Asn Thr Leu Tyr 65                  70                  75                  80 Leu Gln Val Asn Ile Leu Arg Ala Glu Asp Thr Ala Val Tyr Tyr Cys                 85                  90                  95 Ala Arg Glu Ala Arg Gly Ser Tyr Ala Phe Asp Ile Trp Gly Gln Gly             100                 105                 110 Thr Met Val Thr Val Ser Ser         115 <210> SEQ ID NO 8 <211> LENGTH: 108 <212s TYPE: PRT <2133 ORGANISM; Homo sapiens <4005 SEQUENCE: 8 Glu Ile Val Leu Thr Gln Ser Pro Ala Thr Leu Ser Leu Ser Pro Gly 1               5                   10                  15 Glu Arg Ala Thr Leu Ser Cys Arg Ala Ser Gln Ser Val Ser Ser Tyr             20                  25                  30 Leu Ala Trp Tyr Gln Gln Lys Pro Gly Gln Ala Pro Arg Leu Leu Ile         35                  40                  45 Tyr Asp Ala Ser Asn Arg Ala Thr Gly Ile Pro Ala Arg Phe Ser Gly     50                  55                  60 Ser Gly Ser Giy Thr Asp Phe Thr Leu Thr Ile Ser Ser Leu Glu Pro 65                  70                  75                  80 Glu Asp Phe Ala Val Tyr Tyr Cys Gln Gln Arg Ser Asn Trp Pro Pro                 85                  90                  95 Phe Thr Phe Gly Pro Gly Thr Lys Val Asp Ile Lys             100                 105 and/or SEQ ID NO: 8 (in U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681 as Sequence 7): LOCUS ABN29020 119 aa linear PAT 07 Feb. 2007 DEFINITION Sequence 7 from U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681. ACCESSION ABN29020 VERSION ABN29020.1 GI:125142205 DBSOURCE accession ABN29020.1 KEYWORDS . SOURCE Unknown. ORGANISM Unknown. Unclassified. REFERENCE 1 (residues 1 to 119) AUTHORS Giles-Komar,J., Snyder,L., Trikha,M. and Nakada,M.T. TITLE Anti-integrin antibodies, compositions, methods and uses JOURNAL Patent: U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681-A 7 16 Jan. 2007; Centocor, Inc.; Malvern, PA; US; REMARK GAMBIA Patent Lens: U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681 FEATURES Location/Qualifiers source 1..119 /organism=“unknown” ORIGLN  1 qvqlvesggg vvqpgrsrrl scaasgftfs    rytmhwvrqa pgkglewvav isfdgsnkyy 61 vdsvkgrfti srdnsently Iqvnilraed    tavyycarea rgsyafdiwg qgtmvtvss // SEQ ID NO: 9 (in U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681 as Sequence 8): LOCUS ABN29021 108 aa linear PAT 07 Feb. 2007 DEFINITION Sequence 8 from U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681. ACCESSION ABN29021 VERSION ABN29021.1 GI:125142207 DBSOURCE accession ABN29021.1 KEYWORDS . SOURCE Unknown. ORGANISM Unknown. Unclassified. REFERENCE 1 (residues 1 to 108) AUTHORS Giles-Komar,J., Snyder,L., Trikha,M. and Nakada,M.T. TITLE Anti-integrin antibodies, compositions, methods and uses JOURNAL Patent: U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681-A 8 16 Jan. 2007; Centocor, Inc.; Malvern, PA; US; REMARK GAMBIA Patent Lens: U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681 FEATURES Location/Qualifiers source 1..108 /organism=“unknown” Region 2..107 /region_name=“IgV_L_kappa” /note=“Immunoglobulin (Ig) light chain, kappa type, variable (V) domain; cd04980” /db_xref=“CDD:143181” Region 8..100 /region_name =“IG_like” /note =“Immunoglobulin like; smart00410” /db_xref =“CDD:214653” Site order(12,104,106..107) /site_type =“other” /note =“intrachain domain interface” /db_xref =“CDD:143181” Site 25..21 /site_type=“other” /note =“L1 hypervariable region” /db_xref =“CDD:143181” Site order(32,49,93) /site_type =“other” /note =“antigen binding site” /db_xref =“CDD:143181” Site order (34,36,38,43,46,50,87) /site type =“other” /note =“heterodimer interface [polypeptide binding]” /db_xref =“CDD:143181” Site 66..70 /site_type =“other” /note =“L2 hypervariable region” /db_xref =“CDD:143181” Site order (92..94,96..98) /site_type =“other” /note=“L3 hypervariable region” /db_xref =“CDD:143181” ORIGLN  1 eivltqspat Islspgerat Iscrasqsvs    sylawyqqkp gqaprlliyd asnratgipa 61 rfsgsgsgtd ftltisslep edfavyycqq    rsnwppftfg pgtkvdik //

Intetumumab is further characterised in WO02/12501 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,681, the disclosure of which is incorporated in their entirety into this application by reference.

Preferably, also functional derivatives, biologically active variants or modifications of Intetumumab can be employed in the instant invention.

For ease of use, the one or more proteins that are preferably active as biomarkers in the context of the present invention, i.e.

TPO (Somamer ID: SL000588; UniProt ID: P07202),

CCL23.1 (Somamer SL003302; UniProt ID: P55773),

IGHD_IGK._IGL. (Somamer ID: SL000460; UniProt ID: P01880),

TK1 (Somamer ID: SL000057; UniProt ID: P04183),

IL17A (Somamer ID: SL001713; UniProt ID: Q16552),

STX1A (Somamer ID: SL004304; UniProt ID: Q16623), and

PGF (Somamer ID: SL002640; UniProt ID: P49763)

and/or

TGM3 (UniProt ID: Q08188),

are preferably also referred to collectively as “specific proteins” or “said specific proteins” of the present invention,

and preferably also referred to individuality as “the specific protein” or “said specific protein”.

As used herein, the term “sequence homology” is understood by the ones skilled in the art, and methods for determining sequence homology are also known in the art.

As used herein, sequence homology is preferably determined using the BLAST algorithm. BLAST preferably stands for for Basic Local Alignment Search Tool and is an algorithm for comparing primary biological sequence information, such as the amino-acid sequences of different proteins or the nucleotides of DNA sequences. A BLAST search enables a researcher to compare a query sequence with a library or database of sequences, and identify library sequences that resemble the query sequence above a certain threshold. The BLAST algorithm and the computer program that implements it were developed by Stephen Altschul, Warren Gish, and David Lipman at the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Webb Miller at the Pennsylvania State University, and Gene Myers at the University of Arizona. It is available on the web on the NCBI website. Alternative implementations include AB-BLAST (formerly known as WU-BLAST), FSA-BLAST (last updated in 2006), and ScalaBLAST.

Different types of BLASTs are available according to the query sequences. For example, following the discovery of a previously unknown gene in the mouse, a scientist will typically perform a BLAST search of the human genome to see if humans carry a similar gene; BLAST will identify sequences in the human genome that resemble the mouse gene based on similarity of sequence. The BLAST algorithm and program were designed by Stephen Altschul, Warren Gish, Webb Miller, Eugene Myers, and David J. Lipman at the NIH and was published in the Journal of Molecular Biology in 1990.

In the context of the present invention, the sequence homology of the proteins described herein is preferably determined using BLASTp.

In the context of the present invention, the sequence homology of the proteins described herein is more preferably determined on the basis of the longest local alignments generated using BLASTp.

In the context of the present invention, subjects and especially human subjects are preferably also referred to as patients.

As used herein, the term “about” with respect to numbers, amounts, dosings, hours, times, timings, durations, and the like, is preferably understood to mean “approximately” with respect to said numbers, amounts, dosings, hours, times, timings, durations, and the like. More Preferably, “about” means +/−10%, more preferably +/−5% of the given specific value with respect to numbers, amounts, dosings, hours, times, timings, durations, and the like.

If not specified otherwise, amounts administered to a subject, human subject or patient given in “mg”, such as in 500 mg, 1000 mg, or the like, are preferably intended to mean the respective amounts to be administered “flat”, i.e. as a fixed dose that is not adjusted to the bodyweight and/or body surface of the respective subject, human subject or patient.

If not explicitly indicated otherwise, the term “one or more” as used herein, e.g. with respect to the number of compounds, agents, cancer cotherapeutic agents, cancer chemotherapeutic agents and the like, preferably means “one or more than one” and thus preferably includes “two or more” (or “two or more than two”), “three or more” (or “three or more than three”) and/or “four more” (or “more or more than four”). Accordingly, the term “one or more” as used herein preferably includes the numbers one, two, three, four, five, six and/or higher numbers. With respect to the number of agents, cancer cotherapeutic agents, cancer chemotherapeutic agents, it especially preferably includes the numbers one, two, three, four and/or five, even more preferably the numbers one, two, three and/or four and especially the numbers one, two and/or three.

Preferably, especially preferred subjects of the instant invention relate to aspects, subjects, uses, methods and/or embodiments, wherein one or more features of two or more of the herein described aspects, subjects, uses, methods and/or embodiments are combined in one subject.

The following examples are given in order to assist the skilled artisan to better understand the present invention by way of exemplification. The examples are not intended to limit the scope of protection. The features, properties and advantages exemplified for the compounds and uses defined in the examples may preferably be assigned to other compounds and uses not specifically described and/or defined in the examples, but falling under the scope of the description.

The invention is explained in greater detail below by means of examples. The invention can be carried out throughout the range described and is not restricted to the examples given here.

EXPERIMENTAL SECTION Example 1 POSEIDON Clinical Study

POSEIDON, an open-label, randomized, controlled, comparative, multicenter phase I/II study in patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC) who have failed first-line oxaliplatin therapy examining abituzumab in combination with the standard of care (SoC: cetuximab plus irinotecan), showed very interesting outcomes.

In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II trial, a total of 216 patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive

a) standard of care (SoC), e.g, cetuximab plus irinotecan plus placebo,

b) SoC as described under a) plus abituzumab 500 mg, or

c) SoC as described under a) plus abituzumab 1000 mg.

Pharmacokinetic Analysis

Equal numbers of patients per arm were included in the pharmacokinetic analysis subgroup.

Blood sampling for pharmacokinetic assessments scheduled at various timepoints during cycles 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of therapy.

Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated according to standard non-compartmental methods using the program KINETICA™ v4.1.1 (Innaphase).

Immunogenicity

Blood sampling for immunogenicity was scheduled pre-dose in cycles 1, 3, 5 and 6, and at the end-of-treatment visit and safety follow-up visits.

Generation of antibodies directed against abituzumab was evaluated centrally using a validated ELISA method.

Biomarker Analyses

Archived tumor blocks or punch biopsy materials were collected to explore tumor expression of integrins and their ligands as well as proteins related to angiogenesis and the underlying disease, and their potential relationship to clinical outcomes.

Availability of samples had to be confirmed at patient screening

Analyses were performed using immunohistochemistry.

Blood sampling for plasma protein analyses was scheduled pre-treatment.

Plasma protein analyses (based on highly protein-specific aptamers [SomaLogic system]) were performed on samples taken from 197 patients prior to treatment in cycle 1

The original set of simultaneously determined 1,129 plasma protein levels was restricted to 888 proteins on the data level to avoid potential bias due to cell lysis or platelet activation during plasma preparation

Nine global biomarker search analyses were carried out using different normalization procedure, data sets and biomarker dichotomization thresholds, with the aim of filtering biomarker; criteria included data robustness and independence of specific biological annotations. The search process comprised a set of criteria ensuring that identified proteins are significantly (p<0.05) associated with outcome (here exemplary radiologic PFS) for either the patients with low or high levels. These tests comprise, among others, logrank tests for differences in survival (here PFS) for Abituzumab-treated/untreated patients in the biomarker-low and biomarker-high groups according to the median threshold, tests for an interaction effect on outcome (here PFS) between continuous marker levels and treatment based on Cox regression models.

This process identified 8 biomarker active plasma proteins.

Results Biomarker Analyses

The analysis process showed that in the ITT population:

Neither dose of abituzumab significantly improved median PFS or RR

A trend toward improved OS was observed (abituzumab 500 mg: 15.0 [95% CI 10.9-19.2] months, HR 0.83 [0.54-1.28] vs SOC: abituzumab 1,000 mg 14.4 [9.8-19.3] months, HR 0.80 [0.52-1.25] vs SOC; vs 11.6 [9.8-15.7] months for SOC), suggesting clinical activity

The overall safety profile of abituzumab combined with SoC was acceptable

High αvβ6 expression (above the median histoscore [median=70] of the population studied [n=197]) was negatively prognostic for OS in the SOC arm (n=65); it was also predictive f improved OS ((abituzumab 500 mg: 15.0 [95% CI 10.5-23.2] months, HR 0.55 [0.30-1.00] vs SOC; abituzumab 1,000 mg: not reached [9.7 months—not reached], HR 0.41 [0.21-0.81]; vs SOC: 10.2 [5.8-13.1] months) and RR (30.6% [16.3-48.1%] vs 32.3% 16.7-51.4%] vs 16.1% [5.5-33.7%]) in patients treated with abituzumab.

Exploratory biomarker analyses comprised analyses of tumor expression of relevant markers by immunohistochemistry and plasma protein analyses.

Preplanned immunohistochemistry-based expression analyses of integrins αvβ3, αvβ5, αvβ6, αvβ8, and pan-αv were performed on primary tumor tissue

Data were obtained for 197 of 216 patients enrolled.

Plasma protein analyses (based on highly protein-specific aptamers [SomaLogic system]) were performed on samples taken during pre-treatment patient screening.

After restricting the data to 888 of 1129 proteins not affected by CL/PA, nine global biomarker search analyses were carried out using different normalized data sets and different biomarker dichotomization thresholds

This process identified 8 specific proteins in the plasma that are active as biomarker.

Plasma Protein Analyses

Pre-treatment samples with full SomaLogic data (888 genes) were available for 192 tumors (122 treated with abituzumab; 70 treated with SoC alone).

Plasma levels of each of the identified biomarker active plasma proteins were prognostic of survival and predicted increased survival with abituzumab compared to SoC alone (see FIGS. 1 and 2 for representative curves for CCL23, which is associated with CRC prognosis via CCR18).

Thus, the analyses of the pre-treatment plasma protein levels identified 8 biomarker proteins that are predictive of OS and/or PFS, with the majority being also prognostic markers under SOC. These include CCL23, a ligand for CCR1, which appears to have a role in metastatic tumor growth and is associated with poor prognosis.

All identified 8 biomarker active plasma proteins are listed here:

TPO (Somamer ID: SL000588; UniProt ID: P07202),

CCL23.1 (Somamer ID: SL003302; UniProt ID: P55773),

IGHD_IGK._IGL. (Somamer ID: SL000460; UniProt ID: P01880),

TK1 (Somamer SL000057; UniProt ID: P04183),

IL17A (Somamer ID: SL001713; UniProt ID: Q16552),

STX1A (Somamer ID: SL004304; UniProt ID: Q16623),

PGF (Somamer SL002640; UniProt ID: P49763),

TGM3 (Somamer ID: SL008945; UniProt ID: Q08188).

Detailed results documenting the activity of the identified plasma proteins as predictive or prognostic, depending on levels above or below the median shown in Table 1, Table 2 and/or FIGS. 1 to 18.

Example 2 Proteomic Affinity Assay Method

All steps of the proteomic affinity assay are performed at room temperature unless otherwise indicated.

Sample Thawing and Plating

Aliquots of 100% serum or EDTA-plasma, stored at −80° C., are thawed by incubating in a 25° C. water bath for ten minutes. After thawing the samples are stored on ice during mixing and prior to sample dilution, Samples are mixed by gentle vortexing (setting #4 on Vortex Genie, Scientific

Industries) for 8 seconds. A 20% sample solution is prepared by transferring 16 μL of thawed sample into 96-well plates (Hybaid Omnitube 0.3 mL, ThermoFisher Scientific) containing 64 μL per well of the appropriate sample diluent at 4° C. Sample diluent for serum is 0.8×SB17 with 0.6 mM MgCl₂, 2 mM EGTA, 2 μM Z-Block_2, 0.05% TWEEN non-ionic surfactant and for EDTA-plasma is 0.8×SB18 with 0.8 mM MgCl₂, 2 mM EGTA, 2 μM Z-Block_2, 0.05% TWEEN non-ionic surfactant. This plate is stored on ice until the next sample dilution steps are initiated.

Preparation of 10%, 1% and 0.03% SOMAmer Solutions. SOMAmers are grouped into three unique mixes. The placing of a SOMAmer within a mix is empirically determined by assaying a dilution series of serum or plasma with each SOMAmer and identifying the sample dilution that gave the largest linear range of signal. The segregation of SOMAmers and mixing with different dilutions of sample (10%, 1% or 0.03%) allow the assay to span a 10⁷-fold range of protein concentration. The composition of the custom SOMAmer mixes is slightly different between plasma and serum as expected due to variation in protein composition of these two media. The custom stock SOMAmer solutions for 10%, 1% and 0.03% serum and plasma are prepared and stored at 8× concentration in SB17T. For each assay run, the three 8× SOMAmer solutions are diluted separately 1:4 into SB17T to achieve 2× concentration. Each diluted SOMAmer master mix is heated to 95° C. for five minutes and then to 37° C. for 15 minutes. 55 μL of each 2× SOMAmer mix is manually pipetted into a 96-well plate resulting in three plates with 10%, 1% or 0.03% SOMAmer mixes. After mixing with sample, the final individual SOMAmer concentration ranged from 0.25-4 nM for serum, 0.5 nM for plasma.

Equilibration. A 2% sample plate is prepared by diluting the 20% sample 1:10 into SB17T using the Beckman Coulter Biomek Fx^(P) (Beckman Coulter). A 0.06% sample plate is prepared by diluting the 2% sample plate 1:31 into SB17T. The three sample dilutions are then transferred to their respective SOMAmer solutions by adding 55 μL of the sample to 55 μL of the appropriate 2× SOMAmer mix. The plates are sealed with a foil seal (Microseal ‘F’ Foil, Bio-Rad) and incubated at 37° C. for 3.5 hours.

Preparation of Catch-1 Bead Plates. 133.3 4 of a 7.5% Streptavidin-agarose bead slurry in SB17T is added to each well of three pre-washed 0.45 um filter plates. Each well of beads is washed once with 200 μL SB17T using vacuum filtration to remove the wash and then resuspended in 200 μL SB17T.

Catch-1 Bead Capture. All subsequent steps are performed by the Beckman Coulter Biomek Fx^(P) robot unless otherwise noted. After the 3.5 hour equilibration, 100 μL of the 10%, 1% and 0.03% equilibration binding reactions is transferred to their respective Catch-1 Streptavidin agarose filter plates and incubated with shaking for ten minutes. Unbound solution is removed via vacuum filtration. Each set of Catch-1 beads is washed with 190 μL of 100 μM biotin in SB17T and then 190 mL of SB17T using vacuum filtration to remove the wash, 190 μL SB17T is added to each well in the Catch-1 plates and incubated with shaking for ten minutes at 25° C. The wash is removed via vacuum filtration and the bottom of the filter plates blotted to remove droplets using the on-deck blot station.

Biotinylation of Proteins. An aliquot of 100 mM NHS-PEO4-biotin in DMSO is thawed at 37° C. for six minutes and diluted to 1 mM with SB17T at pH 7.25. 100 μL of the NHSPEO4-biotin is added to each well of each Catch-1 filter plate and incubated with shaking for five minutes. Each biotinylation reaction is quenched by adding 150 μL of 20 mM glycine in SB17T to the Catch-1 plates with the NHS-PEO4-biotin. Plates are incubated for one minute with shaking, vacuum filtrated, and 190 μL 20 mM glycine SB17T is added to each well in the plate. The plates are incubated for one minute, shaking before removal by vacuum filtration. 190 μL of SB17T is added to each well and removed by vacuum filtration. The wells of the Catch-1 plates are subsequently washed three times by adding 190 μL SB17T, incubating for one minute with shaking followed by vacuum filtration. After the last wash the plates are centrifuged at 1000 rpm for one minute over a 1 mL deep-well plate to remove extraneous volume before elution. Centrifugation is performed off deck.

Kinetic Challenge and Photo-Cleavage. 85 μL of 10 mM dextran sulfate in SB17T is added to each well of the filter plates. The filter plates are placed onto a Thermal Shaker (Eppendorf) under a BlackRay light source and irradiated for ten minutes with shaking. The photo-cleaved solutions are sequentially eluted from each Catch-1 plate into a common deep well plate by centrifugation at 1000 rpm for one minute each.

Catch-2 Bead Capture. In bulk, MYONE™-Streptavidin C1 beads are washed two times for 5 minutes each with equal volume of 20 mM NaOH and three times with an equal volume of SB17T. Beads are resuspended in SB17T to a concentration of 10 mg/mL. After resuspension, 50 μL of this solution is manually pipetted into each well of a 96-well plate and stored at 4° C. until Catch-2. During Catch-2, the wash supernatant is removed via magnetic separation. All of the photo-cleaved eluate is pipetted onto the MYONE™-Streptavidin C1 magnetic beads and incubated with shaking at 25° C. for five minutes. The supernatant is removed from the MYONE™-Streptavidin C1 beads via magnetic separation and 75 μL of SB17T is transferred to each well. The plate is mixed for one minute at 37° C. with shaking and then 75 μL of 60% glycerol (in SB17T) at 37° C. is transferred to each well. The plate is mixed for another minute at 37° C. with shaking. The wash is removed via magnetic separation. These washes are repeated two more times. After removal of the third glycerol wash from the MYONE™-Streptavidin C1 beads, 150 of SB17T is added to each well and the plates incubated at 37° C. with shaking for one minute before removal by magnetic separation. The MYONE™-Streptavidin C1 beads are washed a final time using 150 μL SB19T with incubation for one minute, prior to magnetic separation.

Catch-2 Bead Elution and Neutralization

SOMAmers are eluted from MYONE™-Streptavidin C1 beads by incubating each well of beads with 105 μL of 100 mM CAPSO pH 10, 1 M NaCl, 0.05% TWEEN non-ionic surfactant with shaking for five minutes. 90 μL of each eluate is transferred during magnetic separation to a new 96-well plate containing 10 μL of 500 mM HCl, 500 mM HEPES, 0.05% TWEEN non-ionic surfactant, pH 7.5.

Hybridization. 20 μL of each neutralized Catch-2 eluate is transferred to a new 96-well plate and 5 μL of 10× Agilent Block (Oligo aCGH/ChIP-on-chip Hybridization Kit, Large Volume, Agilent Technologies 5188-5380), containing a 10× spike of hybridization controls (10 Cy3 SOMAmers) is added to each well. After removing the plate from the robot, 25 μL of 2× Agilent Hybridization buffer (Oligo aCGH/ChIP-on-chip Hybridization Kit, Agilent Technologies) is manually pipetted to the each well of the plate containing the neutralized samples and blocking buffer. 40 μL of this solution is manually pipetted into each “well” of the hybridization gasket slide (Hybridization Gasket Slide—8 microarrays per slide format, Agilent Technologies). Custom Agilent microarray slides containing 10 probes per array complementary to 40 nucleotide selected region of each SOMAmer with a 20×dT linker are placed onto the gasket slides according to the manufacturer's protocol. Each assembly (Hybridization Chamber Kit—SureHyb™ enabled, Agilent Technologies) is tightly clamped and loaded into a hybridization oven for 19 hours at 80° C. rotating at 20 rpm.

Post-Hybridization Washing. Approximately 400 mL Wash Buffer 1 (Oligo aCGH/ChlP-on-chip Wash Buffer 1, Agilent Technologies) is placed into each of two separate glass staining dishes. Six of the twelve slide/gasket assemblies are sequentially disassembled into the first staining dish containing Wash Buffer 1.

Once disassembled, the slide is quickly transferred into a slide rack in a second staining dish containing Wash Buffer 1. The slides are incubated for five minutes in Wash Buffer 1 with mixing via magnetic stir bar. The slide rack is then transferred to the 37° C. Wash Buffer 2 (Oligo aCGH/ChIP-onchip Wash Buffer 2, Agilent Technologies) and allowed to incubate for five minutes with stirring. The slide rack is transferred to a fourth staining dish containing acetonitrile and incubated for five minutes with stirring.

Microarray Imaging. The microarray slides are imaged with a microarray scanner (Agilent G2565CA Microarray Scanner System, Agilent Technologies) in the Cy3-channel at 5 μm resolution at 100% PMT setting and the XRD option enabled at 0.05. The resulting tiff images are processed using Agilent feature extraction software version 10.5.1.1 with the GE1_105_Dec08 protocol. 

1-19. (canceled) 20: A method to identify tumours in a subject likely to benefit from treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, said method comprising: determining levels of one or more proteins, selected from the group consisting of TPO (UniProt ID: P07202), CCL23.1 (UniProt ID: P55773), IGHD_IGK._IGL. (UniProt ID: P01880), STX1A (UniProt ID: Q16623), TK1 (UniProt ID: P04183), IL17A (UniProt ID: Q16552), PGF (UniProt ID: P49763), and TGM3 (UniProt ID: Q08188) in at least one body fluid of said subject, wherein: a) a high level one or more proteins selected from the group consisting of: TPO (UniProt ID: P07202), CCL23.1 (UniProt ID: P55773), IGHD_IGK._IGL. (UniProt ID: P01880), TK1 (UniProt ID: P04183), IL17A (UniProt ID: Q16552), STX1A (UniProt ID: Q16623), and PGF (UniProt ID: P49763), and/or b) a low level of the protein TGM3 (UniProt ID: Q08188); identify a tumour likely to benefit from the treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor. 21: A method to identify tumours in a subject likely to benefit from treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, said method comprising: determining level of the protein STX1A (UniProt ID: Q16623) and/or a protein having at least 80% sequence homology to STX1A, in one or more body fluids of said subject, wherein a high level thereof identify a tumour likely to benefit from the treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor. 22: The method according to claim 20, wherein the level of protein in said one or more body fluids is: a) classified as high, if a respective protein level in said one or more body fluid is at least 2% higher than a median threshold determined for the respective protein, and/or b) classified as low, if the respective protein level in said one or more body fluids is at least 2% lower than said median threshold for the respective protein. 23: The method according to claim 20, wherein the one or more body fluids comprise a blood plasma or consist of blood plasma. 24: The method according to claim 20, wherein the at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor comprises Abituzumab or is Abituzumab. 25: A method to identify a subject responsive to treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor, the method comprising: determining levels of one or more proteins, selected from the group consisting of TPO (UniProt ID: P07202), CCL23.1 (UniProt ID: P55773), IGHD_IGK._IGL. (UniProt ID: P01880), STX1A (UniProt ID: Q16623), TK1 (UniProt ID: P04183), IL17A (UniProt ID: Q16552), PGF (UniProt ID: P49763), and TGM3 (UniProt ID: Q08188) in at least one body fluid of said subject, wherein a) a high level one or more proteins selected from the group consisting of: TPO (UniProt ID: P07202), CCL23.1 (UniProt ID: P55773), IGHD_IGK._IGL. (UniProt ID: P01880), TK1 (UniProt ID: P04183), IL17A (UniProt ID: Q16552), STX1A (UniProt ID: Q16623), and PGF (UniProt ID: P49763), and/or b) a low level of the protein TGM3 (UniProt ID: Q08188); identify a subject responsive to treatment with at least one pan αv integrin inhibitor. 26.-28. (canceled) 29: The method according to claim 21, wherein the protein having at least 80% sequence homology to STX1A has at least 99% sequence homology to STX1A. 30: The method according to claim 22, wherein the level of protein in said one or more body fluids is classified as high if the respective protein level in said one or more body fluids is at least 25% higher than said median threshold determined for the respective protein. 31: The method according to claim 22, wherein the level of protein in said one or more body fluids is classified as low if the respective protein level in said one or more body fluids is at least 25% lower than said median threshold for the respective protein. 